1.必修五MODULE 1 Words, words, words词，词，词British and American English are different in many ways. 英式英语和美式英语在很多方面都有所不同。
The first and most obvious way is in the vocabulary. 首先最明显的是在词汇方面。
There are hundreds of different words which are not used on the other side of the Atlantic, or which are used with a different meaning. 有数以百计个不同的词在大西洋彼岸的另一个英语国家不被使用，或者以一种不同的意思被使用着。
Some of these words are well known---Americans drive automobiles down freeways and fill up with gas;其中有些词就很广泛地为人所知--- 美国人在freeways上驾驶的是automobiles，给车加gas;the British drive cars along motorways and fill up with petrol.英国人在motorways上驾驶的是cars，给车加petrol。
As a tourist, you will need to use the underground in London or the subway in New York, or maybe you will prefer to get around the town by taxi(British) or cab (American).作为游人，在伦敦你要乘underground，而在纽约则是subway，或者你愿意乘坐taxi(英式)或者cab (美式)游览城市。
Chips or French files Chips 还是French fries?But other words and expressions are not so well known.但是其他词语和表达方式却没有这么广泛地为人所知。
Americans use a flashlight, while for the British, it's a torch.美国人把手电筒称为flashlight，而英国人却叫它torch。
The British queue up; Americans stand in line.英国人排队用queue up，而美国人说stand in line。
有时候，Sometimes the same word has a slightly different meaning, which can be confusing. 同一个单词在意义上一点细微的差别就让人很困惑。
Chips, for example, are pieces of hot fried potato in Britain; in the States chips are very thin and are sold in packets.比如chips这个词在英国是热炸的薯条，在美国chips却指非常薄而且装在纸袋里出售的薯片。
The British call these crisps.英国人把这种东西称为crips。
The chips the British know and love are French fries on the other side of the Atlantic. 英国人知道而且喜欢的薯条在大西洋对岸被称为French fries 。
Have or have got? Have 还是have got?There are a few differences in grammar, too. 在语法上，英式英语和美式英语也有一些区别。
The British say Have you got...?I while Americans prefer Do you have .-.?英国人说Have you got·?然而美国人却愿意说Do you have ...？An American might say My friend just arrived, but a British person wouldsay My friend has just arrived.美国人可能会说My friend just arrived，但是英国人愿意讲My friend has just arrived 。
Prepositions, too, can be different: compare on the team, on the weekend (American) with in the team, at the weekend (British). 介词的用法也有所不同:比较一下on the team, on the weekend (美国用法) 和in the team, at the weekend (英国用法)。
The British use prepositions where Americans sometimes omit them (.I'll see you Monday, Write me soon!).英国人用介词的地方美国人有时候可能会省略(I"ll see you Monday; Write me soon!) 。
Colour or color? Colour还是color?The other two areas in which the two varieties differ are spelling and pronunciation. 此外，在两种英语中另外两个领域的区别是拼写和发音。
Americanspelling seems simpler:美式英语的拼写看上去更简单一些：center, color and program instead of centre, colour and programme. center, color和program 是美式拼法，centre, colour 和programme 是英式拼法。
Many factors have influenced American pronunciation since the first settlers arrived four hundred years ago. 自从400年前第一批移民的到来，有很多因素影响了美语发音。
The accent, which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US. 在美国东海岸能够听到跟英式英语非常接近的口音。
When the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw made the famous remark that the British and the Americans are two nations divided by a common language, he was obviously thinking about the differences. 当爱尔兰作家萧伯纳讲那句名言：英国和美国是被同一种语言分开的两个民族的时候，他显然想到了它们的区别。
But are they really so important? 但是这些区别真的如此重要吗?After all, there is probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as between them.毕竟，两个国家境内的口音差别可能跟两国之间的口音差别一样多。
A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow thanunderstanding a New Yorker.一个伦敦人要听懂来自格拉斯哥的苏格兰人讲话可能比理解一个纽约人更难。
Turn on the TV打开电视机Some experts believe that the two varieties are moving closer together.很多专家相信这两种语言变体正在越来越接近。
For more than a century communications across the Atlantic have developed steadily. 一个多世纪以来，大西洋两岸的交流稳步发展。
Since 1980s, with satellite TV and the Internet, it has been possible to listen to British and American English at the Hick of a switch.自从20世纪80年代以来，随着卫星电视和因特网的使用，非常便捷地听到英式英语和美式英语已经成为可能。
This non-stop communication, the experts think, has made it easier for British people and Americans to understand each other. 专家们认为，这种不间断的交流使得英国人和美国人相互理解起来更加容易。
But it has also led to lots of American words and structures passing into British English, so that some people now believe that British English will disappear.但是这也致使许多美式英语单词和结构传人英式英语，以至于现在有一些人相信英式英语将要消失。
However, if you turn on CNN, the American TV network, you find newsreaders and weather forecasters all speaking with different accents - American, British, Australian, and even Spanish.然而，如果你打开美国电视网络节目CNN，你会发现新闻播报员和天气预报员操着不同的口音---美国的，英国的，澳大利亚的，甚至西班牙的。
